The weather is beautiful today (Wednesday), and windy (not surprising). The building I am in shakes with every gust of wind. The pressure even drops a few times when the air gets sucked out of the building. I’m sitting in here making tackle thinking about fishing. The land is warming up faster than usual. The typical land signs that indicate fish arrivals will not match up this year. At least the false summer has been fun with the warm-ups. It is turning on fish in some areas which is good. The water is still a little chilly, but we always see early catches. That ratio usually works in hand in hand with how many people are actually fishing. We heard peepers on the way to Assateague Island yesterday. Buck’s will be opening this Friday, that’s another sign of spring. The seasonal shops are cleaning up and opening their doors. Meet me at Buck’s!

We keep fishing for white and yellow perch in a friend’s pond so that makes it easy. The catfish is trained — you can catch him every 20 minutes. Every day we check our favorite spots for any action. I skipped that today, I am not going anywhere near a tree. On the warm days the pond parking lots are full of vehicles with trailers. Everybody just wants to get out and fish.

The woods and wind are a bad combination. People who don’t live in the woods don’t realize how dangerous it can become with wind. I’ve had two near misses in the last three months with falling trees. I walked up the driveway one day and not a minute later a large pine dropped right where I had been standing. Here’s a little secret — you can’t hear a tree fall until it hits the ground. This one barely made a woosh sound, aside from the trees it tore up on the way down. It is enough noise to make you look up and by then if you are below it’s too late. Another one that went the other day made a loud cracking sound like a cannon and hit the ground fast. I happened to be in that exact spot minutes before as well. If the trees are swaying, it is not a good day to be in the woods. I always walk around with my head on a swivel on a breezy day.

Some of the back inland bay areas have seen some striped bass action from schooling resident bass. Some of the females look fat like they are holding eggs and ready to spawn. That would explain why they are so far upriver in fresher water. Cupola Park has been a hot spot, mostly because many don’t know of other places to go around that area to fish and it is the headwaters of the Indian River. A kayak would make for a very fun day just below the condos at the park. The rips around that area hold a lot of fish. If you want to find fish, look in areas where the water will warm up faster. Mud bottoms with structure are good places to look. Bridges are always a must due to structure holding food to forage.

It’s coming! A few random catches here and there get people excited but the full-on spring fishing is definitely on its way. I’ve seen a few striped bass caught on the Delaware up north near the Augustine area. I’d go every day to check to see what you can catch. It’s a good excuse if you need one. I have to go check the river for fish, I will return with a bounty of food, only to come back with a skunk, but you’ve got to go. The joy of fishing, besides the actual fishing itself, is finding the fish and catching the first of the season. Always let that first fish go, it is lucky. Or I have heard tell. Bloodworms are perfect this time of year for striped bass. Use four aught or six aught circle hooks and a big blood worm.

The SS United States has made it to Mobile, Alabama. My buddy Alex Fogg of FWC is part of the project. The ship will be sunk as a reef about a year from now. A lot of preparation goes into ships that are sunk. Everything has to be removed to the bare metal. It will make an amazing reef down there. I have a lot of friends that dive in Florida. They really love the wreck diving. Some of them use rebreathers and all of that. I can barely get past one atmosphere until my mask pops off. My sinuses are connected to my tear ducts, and I can blow air bubbles out of my eyes when underwater — makes scuba diving very difficult.

The trout ponds are traditionally stocked about mid-March, which is right about now. I could check the website and confirm, but where is the fun in that? Maryland has been stocking a lot of waterways. There’s a lot of water over there to explore for trout fishing this time of year.

There is a huge fishing show in Edison, New Jersey, this weekend if you are looking for an excuse for a road trip. Fishing is always an option as well.